Written Answers Friday 13 January 2006

Scottish Executive

Culture

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what role it considers that radio has in supporting and promoting Scottish culture.

Patricia Ferguson: While broadcasting is a reserved matter, the Scottish Executive recognises that it has a central part to play in Scotland’s cultural and civic life. We attach importance to the role radio can play in reflecting and nurturing our rich cultural diversity.

Employment

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the sale of RAF Saxa Vord will provide suitable premises to achieve a major job dispersal to Unst.

George Lyon: The situation on Unst will be taken into account in future dispersal plans. Job dispersal decisions are taken on the basis of information provided by local authority and local enterprise company delivery partners. That information includes details of property and development opportunities, and also highlights the communities which our partners would wish to target, as most deserving.

Equal Opportunities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many female local authority chief executives there have been in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of local authority chief executives in the same timescale and broken down by local authority area.

George Lyon: There are currently four female local authority chief executives at East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk and Perth and Kinross Councils (12.5%). Historical records of such data are not held centrally.

Equal Opportunities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many female directors there have been in each local authority in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of the total number of local authority directors in the same timescale.

George Lyon: The information requested is not held centrally.

Ferry Services

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19986 by Tavish Scott on 17 November 2005, when and where the discussions in respect of a Users Charter relating to the services provided by Western Ferries between Inverclyde and Cowal took place and which parties were present.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19986 by Tavish Scott on 17 November 2005, what decisions were made; what actions were agreed, and what conclusions were reached as a result of the discussions referred to in respect of a Users Charter relating to the services provided by Western Ferries between Inverclyde and Cowal.

Tavish Scott: Representatives from Western Ferries discussed their proposals for a Users Charter for the Gourock to Dunoon route with Scottish Executive officials at meetings in June, July, November and December 2004. Representatives from Argyll and Bute Council attended the meeting in November 2004. The issue was also discussed at a meeting between the then Minister for Transport and Western Ferries in August 2004 and I was briefed on the background when I met the company in September 2005. All of these meetings took place in Edinburgh. Discussions on this issue at these meetings were brief and were overtaken by the Executive’s proposals to seek an operator willing to provide a service between Gourock Pier and Dunoon Pier on a commercial basis. The Users Charter proposals were not therefore developed to a stage where any decisions, actions or conclusions on this issue were relevant in moving matters forward.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the use of "water boarding", a procedure whereby a suspect’s head is reportedly held under water until they are on the point of drowning, would constitute an act of torture under Scots law.

Colin Boyd QC: Such a procedure would constitute an assault under the common law of Scotland. Whether this procedure would constitute the crime of torture would depend upon the status of the person committing the offence. Torture is a criminal offence in Scotland in terms of section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Under this section, the offence of torture occurs where the offence is committed by a public official or a person acting in an official capacity.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal onus is placed on public officials to act if they are aware of suspects being transported through Scotland for interrogation using methods such as "water boarding".

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal onus is placed on public officials to act if they are aware of electrocution being involved in the transportation through Scotland of suspects for interrogation.

Colin Boyd QC: A public official is obliged to act in accordance with the law. If a public official has knowledge about the commission of a criminal offence in Scotland, that official should report the matter to the police.

Justice

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the use of electrocution during interrogation would constitute an act of torture under Scots law.

Colin Boyd QC: The unlawful application of electric shocks would constitute an assault under the common law of Scotland and I refer to my answer to the previous question S2W-21741 on 13 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any views on the advice given to the All-Party Group on Extraordinary Rendition at Westminster by the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice of New York University School of Law that "seemingly innocuous acts (e.g. allowing refuelling at airports of aircraft of another state) can become wrongful under international law if those acts facilitate Extraordinary Rendition" in respect of the allegations that US agencies have been using Scottish airports for these purposes.

Colin Boyd, QC: The control of flights in and out of Scotland is a reserved matter. Under international law the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation entitles foreign civil aircraft to make technical stops, for example for refuelling, without requiring the permission of the state in which they stop.

  If the police receive specific information that crimes are being committed in Scotland they will be responsible for conducting an investigation into these offences. To date, no specific, credible allegation has been brought to the attention of the police that the "extraordinary rendition" of any individual has been unlawfully facilitated through a Scottish airport.

Music Tuition

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all primary schools provide a year of tuition on a musical instrument.

Peter Peacock: The Youth Music Initiative (YMI), administered by the Scottish Arts Council, assists education authorities with the aim that, by 2006, every primary school pupil will have the opportunity to access at least one year’s free music tuition by primary 6. £10 million per annum is committed to this purpose and to assisting local authorities to innovate and improve their music services for children and young people more generally. Latest Scottish Arts Council reports indicate that YMI opportunities are encompassing a variety of musical instruments, including the voice, and are taking place in one-to-one and group sessions. The Scottish Arts Council is shortly to commission independent research to evaluate the effectiveness of the Youth Music Initiative since its inception in 2003. The evaluation will consider the extent and nature of current provision and is expected to report its findings in early 2007.

Music Tuition

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether musical instruments are provided for tuition in all primary schools.

Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-21884 on 13 January 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Education authorities and head teachers are responsible for decisions about how best to promote the teaching of music in primary schools, including the provision of musical instruments. The Scottish Executive does, however, provide advice on the provision of music tuition in the classroom, primarily in the form of curriculum guidelines.

Music Tuition

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a student who cannot afford tuition but who shows musical potential after one year’s tuition would be provided with an instrument and tuition to fulfil such potential.

Peter Peacock: Additional specialist instrumental tuition is often available to school pupils. The application and level of charges are matters for individual education authorities. However, those councils operating a charging system normally offer concessions to pupils whose families are of limited means.

  The Executive has set up a £5 million trust fund, known as the Dewar Arts Awards, to support exceptionally talented young people across the arts in Scotland who have limited financial resources. The awards, administered by the Scottish Arts Council, are designed to support talented young people who are hampered in making further progress due to lack of funds. The Dewar Arts Awards website can be found at http://www.dewarawards.org/.

Music Tuition

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are being made to harmonise the variable provision and quality of music teaching across the country and to ensure that all children are offered the opportunity to learn a stringed instrument in school.

Peter Peacock: Education authorities and head teachers are responsible for decisions about how best to promote the teaching of music in schools in response to local circumstances. The Scottish Arts Council is shortly to commission independent research to evaluate the effectiveness of the Youth Music Initiative since its inception in 2003. The evaluation will consider the extent and nature of current provision and is expected to report its findings in early 2007.

Olympic Games

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been confirmed that Hampden Park will be used as a venue in the 2012 Olympic Games and whether it is now in a position to state whether any other venues in Scotland will be used for events at the Games.

Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17793 on 3 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Road Accidents

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many personal injury accidents and deaths there have been in each of the last 10 years on the A811 (a) between Stirling and the roundabout at Kippen Station and (b) between Kippen Station and the junction with the A81 at Ballat.

Tavish Scott: Data about personal injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. The following table gives the numbers of road accidents which were identified in these returns as occurring on the specified sections of the A811 from 1995 to 2004, and the associated numbers of fatalities.

  It should be noted that the statistics given below are based upon the data which are held in the Scottish Executive’s road accident statistics database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authorities would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

  Injury Road Accidents Occurring on Sections of the A811, and the Associated Numbers of Fatalities, as Reported in the "STATS 19" Statistical Returns

  

Year
Injury Road Accidents
Fatalities


Stirling to Kippen*
Kippen* to Ballat**
Stirling to Kippen*
Kippen* to Ballat**


1995
6
11
1
1


1996
5
7
0
0


1997
7
10
0
0


1998
8
12
0
2


1999
7
8
0
0


2000
8
5
1
1


2001
9
5
0
1


2002
9
12
0
0


2003
8
9
0
3


2004
8
7
1
0



  Notes:

  *The junction of the A811 and the B822, near Kippen.

  **The junction of the A811 and the A81, near Ballat.

Waste Management

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities will be penalised if they fail to achieve the target to recycle 25% of municipal waste by 2006.

Ross Finnie: The 25% recycling and composting target by 2006 is a Scotland wide target, not an individual local authority target. As the latest figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency show, we are making good progress. The Landfill Allowance Scheme imposes limits for each authority on the amount of biodegradable municipal waste they can landfill and penalties can be imposed on authorities that breach these limits.

Waste Management

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been given to South Lanarkshire Council to support recycling and waste minimisation.

Ross Finnie: South Lanarkshire has received a total of £16,089,000, from 2003-04 to 2007-08, and an indicative award of £50,137,000, from 2008-09 to 2020, through the Strategic Waste Fund, to support recycling and waste minimisation.

  

Following are statistics on parliamentary questions and answers for the period from 01/11/2005 to 30/11/2005



  

 
Scottish Executive
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
Total


Total questions asked
1,107
5
1,112


Total questions answered
1,082
9
1,091



  

Total non-recess questions answered (breakdown)


Answered within:
Scottish Executive
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body


0-10 days
751
5


11-20 days
58
4


21-30 days
1
0


31-40 days
0
0


40+ days
2
0


Total answered
812
9



  

Total recess questions answered (breakdown)


Answered within:
Scottish Executive
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body


0-20 days
226
0


21-30 days
43
0


31-40 days
1
0


40+ days
0
0


Total answered
270
0